St Joe River

Bronson Meadows Campout - Coeur d'Alene / St Joe National Forests, Idaho

For our last trip of the year we decided to stay close to home.... like, in our back yard. The snow had already arrived in the high country but we were presented with a perfect weather window to get one last trip in for the year.

We had come up with this route in the spring, but then there was still too much snow to try it. I'm glad we waited because it would not have been doable in the snow.

We got a ride up to Lake Elsie and started climbing from there. The plan was to walk back to town via Bronson Meadows.

We started climbing from the lake and were soon at the ridge. There were views in every direction. There was still plenty of up and down on our walk over to Cemetery Ridge. We hung out there for a couple hours and enjoyed the views.

From there we started south until we linked up with trail #570, Ames Ridge National Recreation Trail. This would lead us straight down to Bronson Meadows. The fall colors on this trail were in full bloom. Once we dropped off of the ridge, things flattened out and we started looking for a camp.

We only saw one camp in Bronson Meadows, so we took it. It turned out to be a nice camp. You could tell that people on motorized vehicles camped there because there were some amenities left there that no hiker would haul. Since it was our last trip of the year we brought in some steaks to cook over the fire. A perfect end to the day.

The next day we started up the Big Creek National Recreation Trail #44. We had heard that this trail was not very good and very steep. All of that was wrong. Trail #44 was in great shape and was a good walk.

Our neck of the woods is notorious for being dry. With that in mind, we filled up with all of the water that we could haul because we might not see another water source until we get back to town. I was carrying 5 liters.

All of the way up trail #44 we were seeing water. Once we made it up to the St. Joe Divide, that all changed. Once we got on to trail #16, things got steep, I mean really steep. It was made by motorcycles and ATV's who would rather go straight up a mountain than take a nice grade up. This trail really took the steam out of me.

This section of the trail was the most challenging. We were back on double track going up and down on the ridge. We hiked until the evening and finally just made camp along the side of the trail. It had been a long day.

On the last morning of my backpacking season, it was beautiful. It was a bittersweet moment packing up for the last time. It had been an incredible season. Probably my best yet.

Almost immediately out of camp we spotted a cow moose and a couple calves.

We worked our way around Silver Mountain and decided to take the power line route down. There was a trail down, but it was steep. We worked our way down and in to Kellogg. From there, we walked straight to Radio Brewing for our last victory meal of the season.

Big Creek Campout - St. Joe National Forest, Idaho

There seems to be a big creek in every state... maybe every county. Here we have a Big Creek that runs North in to the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River and another one that runs South in to the St Joe. River. We've done trips on both Big Creeks now and this is our second trip into the Bronson Meadows area.

Last fall we hiked south down in to Bronson Meadows, then back north all the way in to town. For this trip we were going to hike into Bronson Meadows from south and then loop around back down towards the St Joe River.

The forecast for the trip was wet. When we got to the trailhead it was raining... hard. We sat in the truck and waited it out and it eventually cleared. We geared up and hit the trail. No more than 20 minutes into the hike it started raining on us again. What can you do...

The trail started out as a double track ATV trail, but once we got to the top of the hill it changed to single track. The trail was in great shape. The trail is shared with motorcycles so they were most likely the ones who had cleared it. We hoped that the rain would keep all of the riders off of the trails. Once we started down the hill the skies cleared and the sun came out.

The trail was very easy to follow and looked like it gets some use. It took us down right along side of Big Creek before we started the climb up to where the cabin was supposed to be. We figured that it would be a good place to camp for the night.

The cabin looked like it hadn't been used in a while. The building seemed to be in decent shape, but it seems like the rodents have taken over and it would take some serious cleaning before I would consider staying in it.

We're hammockers anyway, and the only thing that would get me to not sleep in my hammock would be if I couldn't hang it somewhere. Yeah, it's that comfortable.

The next morning, it was raining so we lounged in our hammocks for a while. Eventually we had our coffee and set out for Cemetery Ridge. The trail was good and so was the climb. Once we reached the top it was down the other side and in to Bronson Meadows. We tried avoid the creeks for a while, but with the rain coming down and the endless crossings we eventually gave up on having dry feet.

We had lunch at a campsite that we stayed at in the fall. It's a great campsite, and I wished we could've stayed there again, but the milage didn't work out. We left that camp and started out back down towards the trailhead to complete the loop. For the whole trip I was pleasantly surprised at the trail. I never know what to expect, but the trail was interesting and in great shape.

It continued to rain and we continued to have stream crossing after stream crossing. The miles were starting to add up as we made it to the road walk. I knew when I came up with this loop, that there would be a long stretch of road walk that we would have to do to complete the loop. We were tired when we got there and the few miles we did on the road sealed the deal.

We were ready to take any camp that we came upon, but we never saw one... so we just kept walking. Finally there was a wide spot in the road. We took it -- we had to. We were done. None of the trees were ideal but we found 4 that we could make work. We had a fire down the road a little ways and we settled in. Not the best camp, but it still felt good to be there and be done hiking for the day.

It rained hard throughout the night, but the next morning the sun was out and we were up and at it early to take advantage before the weather changed its mind. There wasn't much exciting to talk about the on the road walk, it was a road walk. Before we knew it we were making the final climb back up to the truck.

All and all it was a great trail and a great trip. We might be back to this loop someday.

St. Joe River Camp and Fish - Part 1

My Dad retired, I turned 40, we decided to take a father son fishing and camping trip in Northern Idaho. This is our St. Joe River Camp and Fish trip. The St. Joe River in Northern Idaho is high on our list of favorite spots. In my youth I spent many October days running around these forests and along the St. Joe with my Dad and its always good to return whether we are family camping, fishing, or at Elk Camp.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

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Camping on the St. Joe

With fires raging in Washington and a cold front pushing the smoke west into Coeur d’Alene it was nice to get away this weekend. Our area of refuge was a beautiful run of pristine river famous for Blue Ribbon Trout and it’s rich history in logging, mining and Indian trails.
Read about it:

Things to do in Idaho | Little Joe Ridge and the Saint Joe River

For More things to do in Idaho Subscribe for new videos every Monday and Thursday:
The Saint Joe River is now one of my favorite places along with Little Joe Ridge!

This is Detours for Derrik. Some search alternatives are detours for derek and detours for derrick. Also use the tage DFD. This video is a part of a things to do in Idaho series.

St Joe River

Idaho

St. Joe's River, Idaho

Cutthroat Trout - St. Joe's River, Idaho

Before and After: Saint Joe River Flood 2017, March. Northern Idaho Drone Footage

This was taken a few miles upstream from St. Maries Idaho on the Saint Joe River. The videos were filmed by drone.

The video showcases the before (normal water level) and after (flood level) videos of our cabin. This is not even record high levels, and the highest its been in about 20 years.

Camping on the St. Joe River

Camping with Joe on the St. Joe River near Avery, ID.

Giant White Pine Campground St Joe National Forest, Idaho

St. Joe River, ID Fly Fishing, September 2012

Music: Enter and survive This Cage - Instrumental (feat.Alex)
by Wired Ant

Ratfest 2012 Base camp St. Joe River Idaho

Kelly McGuire Quietly Fishing the St. Joe River in Idaho

Kelly fishing the Joe on a great day

Riding Coeur D Alene Nat.forest

road, trail & some night riding

Spokane River Coeur d'Alene Idaho

Awesome day out on the water with some great friends.

Fly Fishing Streamers on the St. Joe River Pre-runoff

Fly Fishing Streamers on the St. Joe River

Early season before spring runoff can often be some excellent streamer fishing. In this video I talk about what type of water to look for when fishing streamers during high, cold spring flows.

The first segment of the video focuses on soft current seams and how to present your streamer pattern. In the second half of the video I cover the basics for fishing back eddies. Back eddies will concentrate fish during high flows and are a great place to dredge a streamer pattern.

Remember when fishing late winter and early spring to focus on the easiest water that trout can get relief from high water volume and maintain access to food and some current for oxygen. If you can find areas like I discuss in the video you are on the way to having some great pre-runoff fishing!

Thanks for watching!


Sean Visintainer
Silver Bow Fly Shop


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Railroad Bridge St. Joe River, Lake Coeur d'Alene, Lake Chatcolet, Idaho Bike Path

Passing under the old railroad bridge on the St. Joe river. We are heading North from Lake Chatcolet into the South end of Lake Coeur d'Alene

The bridge was once a working railroad draw bridge, now it has been elevated and fixed into place. Part of the Trail of the Coeur D'Alenes bike trail now:

St Maries to CDA Flight

coeur d alene river 3 19 2017

Crystal Lake Overnight - St. Joe National Forest, Idaho

Crystal Lake is a well traveled lake that is fairly close to my house in North Idaho. The main trails in to the lake are short and easy walking. The problem for us is, that while it is close to us, it takes a long time to drive to the trailhead.

We thought that we might be able to make the trip quicker if we got to the lake from the east. The hike would be longer, but we would save a lot of driving time.

Quick Links:
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- REEDS BALDY:
- CRYSTAL LAKE:
- DAY 2:
- ST JOE RIVER DRAINAGE:


It was a tough hike and took me over some terrain that I had never been on before. The views of the St. Joe river were incredible as we made our way across the ridges and down to the lake.